Barcelona - Espanyol: The definitive derby
This Wednesday there is a derby at the Camp Nou . All the crossings between Barça and Espanyol are always special, they have connotations beyond the sporting aspect and the rivalry is maximum. But this may be historical. Victory is the only thing that serves both entities. The Catalan team must win if they do not want to say goodbye to a LaLiga title that Real Madrid already caresses , and the Blue and Whites, if they do not add the three points, can mathematically confirm their descent into the field of their eternal rival.
The capricious schedule and the setbacks of both teams, Espanyol has not raised its head throughout the season and Barça is showing an irregular performance in the resumption of competition after the stoppage due to the coronavirus, have caused the last derby of the 19 -20 is final. This encounter may imply the downgrade of the parakeet entity, after 27 years in a row in the First , but, in addition, if Barcelona does not win, it will leave Real Madrid , which receives Alavés on Friday , on the platter the LaLiga title . Those of ZidaneThey are leaders and are four points away with four days to go until the end of the course.
Setién has not recovered any of the players he has injured in this clash. You cannot count on Junior Firpo, Umtiti, De Jong and Dembélé . The coach did not want to comment on whether he will keep the diamond layout that gave him such a good result against Villarreal , in which Messi played behind Griezmann and Luis Suárez. In fact, from his words it could be intuited that he will vary it, since he commented that it is not a suitable system against rivals that close, as Espanyol can do this Wednesday.
The Barcelona will come out with its eleventh gala. He does not want surprises, despite the fact that Espanyol is sporty and emotionally sunk. The parakeets are last in the table, and have not won at the Camp Nou in LaLiga since February 21, 2009, since De la Peñazo , which ended in 1-2. But at Barça they have still not forgotten Tamudo's two goals from the derby on matchday 37 of the 06-07 season, in which that two-tie tie meant that Real Madrid won the LaLiga title . Those of Valverde , with the Tamudazo , frustrated, against prognosis, the interests of theBarça .
The Blue and Whites have little left to write in this league. The parakeets have been virtually descended for weeks and in each game the morale is lower. They chain five consecutive games losing. Even the surprising and desperate gesture cease to Abelardo and put Rufete on the bench before the commitment against Real Madrid , did not give any effect. Unlike. Against Leganés , on Sunday, the parakeets signed the worst game that is remembered in years. And with this backdrop, and appealing only to pride, they arrive at the Camp Nou . In Cornellà there is already desire for the season to end officially.
The only incentive for the parakeet team is trying not to go down in history as the worst Espanyol since the club was founded in 1900. Until today the most negative season had been 68-69 with 8 wins and the same draws. Now the box Rufete takes 5 wins and 9 matched. Therefore, it seems difficult to prevent it from becoming the most disastrous year. In addition, the Catalans had never finished First place bottom and are now four points from the penultimate.
